Firelight Glow
by dutchtulips
Summary: R/Hr quickfic, 5th year fluff. ron and 'mione share a moment in the common room after midnight. (it's PG, I swear.)


SD ~ Rowling reaps it all. I just have fun.

AN ~ takes place during 5th year. didn't want to confuse you because I included a quote from 1st year.

~*~

Firelight Glow

-dutchtulips-

~*~

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He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er - all right."

He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said this all very fast.

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart, either. 

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

~~ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Scholastic Press, pgs. 105-106

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~*~

A slender female figure, clad in a satin nightgown, looked quickly to the left and right. Seeing no one, she crept cautiously down the winding staircase, careful not to trip on the carpet runner, and stepped forward, into the Gryffindor common room. 

It was late, past midnight, but the fire in the fireplace was burning nicely. It was always burning. The slim young girl smiled softly at the homely sight, then padded over to the wide red velvet sofa, which was positioned in front of the fire. She glanced vigilantly around once more, then let out a small sigh.

Hermione Granger dropped onto the lush sofa and let her muscles go limp. She felt exhausted, but not physically. It was more of a mental tiredness. Insomnia had been keeping her up the past few days and she didn't know why. Her lessons were busying her, as usual, but nevertheless, her nerves could not be rested.

Hermione thought to herself about things that had been going on at Hogwarts lately. Everything was pretty average, nothing out of the ordinary. _It makes no sense. There's nothing going on that's vast and could potentially be keeping me awake, _she thought. _Why am I?_ Then it occurred to Hermione - maybe that was why she couldn't sleep. Because everything _had_ been normal at school, and usually it wasn't.

She shrugged off her thoughts with a "what the heck" look on her face, then opened a book she had brought along with her. It wasn't Hermione's usual reading, like the _Standard Book of Spells_ or anything having to do with her lessons; just some literature she had rented from the school library.

Hermione had been sitting by the fire reading for nearly twenty minutes when she heard it. A strange _thunk_ noise. It sounded slightly muffled and was faint, so she shrugged it off, just assuming she'd imagined it.

Then it came again. This time it was more of a _whomp_ sound. Now Hermione knew she hadn't envisioned it. She nervously glanced around, fearing something was wrong. As she glanced in the direction of the staircase leading up to the boys' dormitories, it was then she saw a dark shadow nearby.

Hermione's heart began to beat faster. That side of the common room wasn't illuminated and she couldn't tell what was lurking there, let alone why. Closing her book, she scrabbled to the other side of the long sofa, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, trying to seclude herself from the shadow's view.

From her new position, Hermione couldn't see the mysterious figure anymore. She felt her heart thump louder as she anticipated whether or not the shadow would show itself.

__

Cluck. . . thump. Some incoherent mumbling. Then, "Blimey. . ."

Hermione straightened and crawled back to the other side of the sofa. Her heartbeat began to calm as she saw who the mysterious person was. "Ron!" she exclaimed.

Ron looked up in her direction. "Hermione?" he inquired, picking up some books he had knocked off a nearby table.

"Yes, it's me," she answered a bit hastily, then took a moment and inhaled slowly, to calm her still slightly racing heartbeat. "What are you doing down here at such a late hour?"

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, replacing the books and stepping closer towards the sofa where Hermione sat.

She moved over to give him some room to sit. "Well, I was just. . .uh. . .reading. Say, was that you who I heard earlier, as well?"

Ron sat down next to her. "Probably. I tripped in the corridor upstairs coming down here." Pause. "Is school so important now that you're saying up past midnight to study?"

She looked at him; he was teasing. "No. I mean, I wasn't studying. It was just some fiction. You know, a novel."

"Oh. I see." Ron was quiet.

"So what are _you_ doing awake, Mr. Weasley?" She smiled, turning it neatly on him.

"I don't know. I just. . .I can't sleep, I guess," he answered. "Don't know why really. Nothing's really putting a strain on my brain for me to not be able to sleep."

"Yes. . .that's me as well," Hermione said. "I don't have a reason for not being able to not sleep. But I can't. It's been like this for the past week. So. . .I just bring a book and come down here to read. Once, when I did finally get to sleep, I fell asleep reading right here on the sofa."

Ron turned to look at her, interested. "What happened?"

"Well, luckily, Harry was the one who found me. He had to get up early for Quidditch practice and saw me sprawled out here on the sofa. He woke me up and I snuck back upstairs before anyone else saw me," Hermione told him.

Ron smiled. "As hard as you try not to, Hermione, I think you're destined for a life full of skirmishes."

"As long as I'm hanging around you and Harry, I haven't a doubt about that," she laughed. "Besides, haven't we been since the first year?"

"Oh, yes, definitely. I do believe that gigantic chessboard does count for _something_," Ron bemused. 

Hermione giggled again. "I even remember our first meetings that first year. Don't you?"

"Oh yeah. . ." he recalled, an amused smile growing on his face. 

"I was terrible to you. . .being so bossy like that. . ." She smiled.

"Quite the contrary. It was _me_ who was terrible to _you_," Ron replied. "I called you a nightmare and said that no one could stand you." He slowly put a friendly arm around Hermione and flashed her a subtle wink. "Ah, but I was wrong."

She just smiled harder. "Were you?"

"Yes. And sorry. Really, 'Mione, you're not a nightmare, you're. . ."

She glanced up at him. 

"You're. . . a. . .dream." Ron smiled at her, a true genuine smile. 

"Really, Ron?" Her lower lip started to tremble.

"Really, 'Mione. Really. It just took me a long time to realize it, was all. And I'd. . .go through it all again if I could. Including the Viktor Krum situation," he whispered.

Hermione sniffled and turned her face away, sobs filling her lungs.

Ron let out a moan. "Aw, 'Mione, don't cry. . . what'd I do now?"

"Nothing, nothing! I'm not upset! I'm just. . .so happy to hear you say that!" She exclaimed, tossing her slender arms around his neck and wrapping Ron in a tight embrace.

He hugged back. "You are?" He asked in a confused tone.

"Yes, Ron!" She loosed her grasp on him to look him in the eyes. Her voice dropped lower and she was trying to suck in a sob at the same time. "I'd go through it all again, too."

Ron looked very surprised. "Really? I thought I'd never be able to compare to Viktor Krum."

Hermione's expression softened. "Oh, Ron. . .of course you can compare to Viktor! Actually, you can do even more than that! You mean more to me than Viktor ever will! You and I, Ron, well, we have a history. We've been through everything together. We've had a lot of good times, and a lot of bad times. Some very bad times, when we got into a few of those bitter arguments. But everything always worked out in the end. It's because we have _bond_, Ron." She lowered her voice again. "It's Viktor who can't compare to _you_. To you and I."

"Wow. . ." The redhead whispered. "That's just. . .Hermione. . .you. . .me. . .wow." Then he took her hand and looked back in her eyes. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

She smiled slowly. "Well. . .that all depends."

"On what?" Ron inquired.

"Does the fact you called me a dream mean what I think it means?" Hermione looked amused.

Ron nodded meekly. "Y-yeah."

She turned back to look at the fire and leaned against him, smirking. "Good."

"Nu-uh. . .you're not gettin' away _that _easy, Miss Granger," Ron's teasing voice proclaimed, grasping Hermione's chin and gently turning her face towards him. The humor in his eyes melted into something else as he looked in hers. His voice fell softer. "I'll say it if you will."

Hermione reached up and touched the hand holding her chin, and then took it in hers. "I. . .I love you, Ron."

"I love you, 'Mione."

They kissed softly, Hermione's bushy brown hair curtaining their faces. She broke away first with a small laugh. "Just think if one of the professors could see us now. Boy, would we be in for it. Up past hours, kissing alone in the common room in our nightclothes. . ."

"Like I said, you just can't escape those scuffles!" Ron grinned. "Anyways, who cares about the bloody teachers? They can't have you, just me!"

Hermione laughed, and then laughed harder and harder until she was practically gasping for air.

"Hey, 'Mione, calm down! It wasn't _that_ funny!" Ron stroked her back, trying to help her gain her breath again.

"All the same, I suppose maybe we should get back to our dormitories. It's awfully late," she said, breathing regularly again. "I think I'm finally getting a little tired."

"Yeah, me too," Ron replied, rising from the sofa. He took Hermione's hand and brought her on her feet. They stood there facing each other for a few moments. 

"I suppose I'll see you at breakfast then," Ron bemused.

Hermione rolled her eyes with amusement. "You're such a prat," she said, seeing his lopsided smile. She reached up and embraced him lightly. "Sleep tight, Ron."

"Night, night, 'Mione," he replied, giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. They stared into each other's eyes a moment, and then kissed each other again, a bit bolder this time.

They broke apart slowly, each heading their opposite ways upstairs to their dormitories. Hermione had just mounted the first step and had put her hand on the banister when,

"Hey!"

She turned around to look back at Ron, who was standing midway up the stairs. "Yeah?"

"If, uh. . .you can't sleep tomorrow night, either, wanna meet down here by the fire again?" Ron asked.

Hermione could only smile. 

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-el fin-


End file.
